NIL helps create more opportunities for college athletes

By William Reeves, Victoria DiRocco, and Amy Hansen

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024) – If you were to tell college athletes 10 years ago that they could make money while still enrolled in college, people would call you crazy.

Today, it has become a reality for these athletes because now they are able to gain profit by promoting a product through social media and commercials. In 2021, the NCAA ruled that college athletes would now be able to make money using their name, image, and likeness (NIL) for commercial purposes. This allows the athletes to have merchandise with their credentials on it, appear in advertisements, and other various opportunities to promote their fame. Before 2021, college athletes weren’t able to make money off their NIL, which made them have to rely on the scholarship money they were given by the university. Now, athletes, like Shawn Asbury II, can make money by not only playing their sport but by promoting their NIL through various forms of advertisement.

Our angle for this story was to navigate through college athletes who benefit from NIL deals, and how and if they are beneficial. To give more insight into this news story, we asked three different people what they thought about this rising trend in sports; Shawn Asbury II,  Luke Maslin, and Galen Clavio. Asbury is a Defensive Back for the rising Indiana Hoosiers and is currently a Senior, who had recently transferred from Old Dominion University. Maslin is a senior at IU and is studying Sports Management and Marketing. Clavio is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education for the Media School and is a Professor of Sports Media.

Asbury has two NIL deals, so we asked him about his experience securing those opportunities. “It was pretty easy,” Asbury said, “a lot of them reach out to you especially because I transferred in, so a lot of them want to get onto the new players early. ” Next, he discussed with us how being able to profit from his NIL changed his approach to college athletics and academics. “It definitely changed that perspective because I’ve never been part of that,” Asbury said.

“Coming from a smaller school, it was definitely cool to see a school that has more money because they’re able to do a lot more things so you’re able to create a lot more different designs that you might not be able to create at other schools and you’re able to have different opportunities you might not have somewhere else.” Asbury has become a fan favorite to the IU fanbase, so why not hear from an IU fan what they think about NIL deals?

Maslin is a proud IU fan, we asked him how the introduction of NIL deals has changed his views on college sports. “I feel like there’s a difference where some athletes are specifically going to schools just for the money,” Maslin said. “And specifically the last few years of basketball and football, I would say, are the two biggest examples of this.” We then asked him if NIL deals help create a connection with local businesses and the community. “Definitely creates more focus on local businesses,” Maslin said. “If you look at IU, definitely some of the bigger names will be attracted by the bigger brands, but you have places like BuffaLouie’s and Eric Gordon’s Greek’s Pizzeria. All these local shops where they’re sponsoring local athletes in order to get them some money and also to help promote them. It allows for the local businesses to grow a partnership with these athletes, teams, and the school themselves because at the end of the day, they’re all local so they’re doing their best to stick together.” The fans love that NIL deals benefit the community around them, but an expert’s opinion can always strengthen a news story.

In Clavio’s press conference, we picked out one question that our team liked the most. “Do you think the rise of Women’s Basketball has affected NIL disproportionally?” “I wouldn’t say disproportionally,” Clavio said. “I think a couple of things are happening with women’s sports. There is clearly a groundswell of spectator interest in women’s sports from where we were ten years ago, even five years ago. I think that was probably always going to recur as media became more decentralized, you think about your viewing habits and what you’re interested in. It’s easier to follow sports that are not in primetime on television now than it was 10 years ago because of the rise of digital television services and streaming services and whatnot.” With the world of media we live in the fans can watch the most popular teams as they are shown more often and this is the case for IU Women’s Basketball.

To learn more about what our fans thought about NIL deals, we went through the streets of Bloomington to learn what the community thought about the rising trend. These three interviewees provided interesting thoughts on the topic and great information.

Three interviewees were from the streets of Bloomington, Indiana on a Friday morning. Our group interviewed three people to learn more about their thoughts on NIL deals.

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By: Mayah Weeks, Sophie Doyne, Alaina Moore
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024).

It is a regular Monday morning in October. A typical iPhone alarm sounds at around 9:30 AM, and Ramsey Gary has around 30 minutes of everyday life before being thrown into her crazy schedule. Gary, a 5 ‘7 sophomore volleyball player at Indiana University, spends many hours on her sport; when asked, she states, “Outside my sleeping, like over half my day (is spent on volleyball), like 14 hours”. The rest of her time is spent on student life. However, Gary brought up another aspect of her volleyball life that goes over most of her fellow students’ heads. Her constant focus on how she presents herself as a person, her NIL. With this in mind, a question was brought up as we look deeper into NIL and college athletes. Is there a difference between the type of NIL deals male and female athletes receive? 

NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) is a fairly recent oddity in the collegiate world regarding pay. Until now, collegiate athletes have only received scholarships, but social media highly influenced the conversation about NIL. Collegiate athletes are able to earn sponsors and get paid to make social media posts, in addition to their hard work in their respective sports. Galen Clavio, a sports-media researcher, states that “up until April 2025, colleges can take athlete’s money.” So currently, two different aspects of NIL provide an income for college athletes. Clavio brings up being a good athlete and attracting television viewers, and two, being good at social media and being paid that way. With this, a topic stands out the most: the difference between NIL in female and male athletes. Women athletes must work harder and face more challenges than their male counterparts to secure NIL deals, which are often overlooked. 

Being a woman and playing a sport comes with added pressure to make your name known on and off the court, while men focus almost solely on just playing the sport. To gain brand visibility, women must capitalize on their marketability, personality, and social media following. At the same time, male athletes tend to get NIL deals based on their field performance and media coverage. In fact, women were the first to benefit from social media and NILs. When asked about this topic in a panel, an athletic advisor at IU, Jeremy Gray, states, “Women make up an outsize portion of it (NIL), they’re way more effective on social media, and that male counterparts have yet to master the art of NIL.” Although it is much easier for female athletes to gain a following on different platforms, male sports still receive more attention than females. When asked about this, many students at IU stated that they are more educated on men’s sports than women’s. This caused women athletes to become their own marketers and create individual content that makes them seem appealing to brands. Women’s leagues lack the same audience male leagues get, causing brands to avoid giving these deals to women, initiating athletes to work much harder and focus on many other factors their male counterparts never have to consider. 

[Kaltura]https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_f6fadi5y[/Kultura]

We interviewed various Indiana University students to find out their thoughts on how gender affects NIL. The interviews highlighted the societal standards placed on collegiate female athletes. 

Women have gender stereotypes they have to keep in mind while trying to secure these deals. Brands mainly look for women to do beauty, fashion, and aesthetic deals. A great example is the LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who is the most followed NCAA athlete on social media. Most of her followers do not keep up with her sport but rather her beauty. NILs like this leave broad or even sports-related sponsorships for men. Stereotypes like this force women athletes to work harder because they must look for brands that fit these beauty categories. In addition, women athletes spend more time off the court interacting with their fans and creating content. “You’re working on your NIL every day of your life, and people are always judging you, looking at you in a certain way. If I hold the door for someone, I am portraying my core values,” Gary adds. Even with the extra time and effort women athletes put in, NIL deals are not evenly distributed by gender. 

Women’s sports have to face lower salaries and receive less funding than men’s. This creates a more significant focus on receiving NIL deals, which is even more important for female athletes when looking for the support they need to keep the sport alive. Most of the time, NIL money is put toward hiring better coaches and providing for transportation costs. With these smaller budgets, brands giving these NIL deals to female athletes have to make sure it’s worth the investment, and this causes women to have to do what I mentioned earlier – work harder, interact with their fans, and perform on and off the court. NIL is important for all sides of the field, whether man or woman. However, women have worked for years to gain the attention they deserve. Recently, their efforts have benefitted them more now than ever as “there has been a large increase in women’s sports watchers,” according to Clavio, so despite the revenue gap between the two genders, there is still hope for these fighting women to make the money they deserve and hopefully catch a break.

By: Xander Yeh, Kyla Dunigan, Lindsay Iaquinta

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana (Oct. 25, 2024)

INDIANA – New NIL Rulings Impact More than just Young Athlete Financials

On a bright, fervent afternoon in Indiana University, the quiet air is shattered by the roar of the crowd, rumbling the courts and echoing throughout the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game has approached its last moments—every second counting, Indiana University’s shooting guard Anthony Leal shoots and sinks a basket, scoring his team the final point needed to bring home a victory. The packed stands deafen the stadium with cheering, Leal and his peers hug and triumphantly celebrate. It was a moment to savor, but for Leal, it reminded him the importance of giving it everything he had.

As the noise fades and the players head to their locker rooms, many athletes shift their focus, now facing the responsibilities of life beyond the court. But for Leal, the game is everything and passionately is able to continue developing his skills and legacy on a new playing field—the NIL landscape. Due to the recent Supreme Court ruling, NCAA v. Alston, student-athletes finally have the opportunity to benefit from their name, image, and likeness. But this change does not come without scrutiny.

With disparities in earnings and the status of student-athletes in the spotlight, NIL has sparked debate and controversy—a backlash and legal battle that affect the careers of many athletes like Leal. Critics and some athletes who struggle to leverage their identities claim that is unfair and distracting. As tensions boil and new regulations take shape, many student-athletes push back with their own narratives—Leal and his teammates see things differently, believing that such concerns are overblown.

“(NIL) makes you want to perform even better,” said Anthony Leal when asked directly about how the ruling affects his gameplay. “The better you play the more opportunities you might have.”

Leal and his team’s performance have not shown signs of decline attributed to competing NIL deals—it appears to have strengthened. On the court, Leal’s team enters a flow state, focusing on their shared goal of victory; NIL is only embraced as a bonus for after the final buzzer. Concerns of internal conflict—driven by jealousy or envy—appear to stem from outside observers, failing to align with the athletes’ reality.

“We are all aware that we are a lot better off this way (and) we are still mainly focused on trying to win games—NIL is kind of on the side,” said Leal when asked his opinion on concerns of internal dynamics. “It is not like this player is making more than me or I am making more than this player—that sort of thing has never really come up.”

The rising controversy has intimidated many aspiring athletes, stirring resentment and debate. But concerns over equity and team dynamics often overshadow the broader appeal of NIL, reflecting something much deeper than financial gain. To many athletes and directors, success in the industry is multi-faceted, requiring more than just game performance. NIL is argued to fill these gaps, providing student athletes the opportunity to develop skills that last beyond their athletic bubble and time in college.

“There is still the mission of turning young people into functional professional adults,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director Jeremy Gray when interviewed about NIL implications outside the field. “If you go through the NIL landscape you learn how to brand yourself, (how to manage) taxes, how to present yourself and how to run a business.”

Leal corroborates NIL’s opportunistic benefits, voicing how “Real estate deals for NIL have opened up a career possibility” and emphasizing how he has “(gotten) more into the business world and outside of the sports world.”

The pursuit of academic paths often provides students with a skillset and sense of independence that lasts long after college years. This raises an important question: why should student-athletes be limited from gaining the same kind of advantages?

Jeremy believes that “(NIL) is an excellent training ground for them… it’s like the world’s coolest group project… it gets them ready for a professional role.”

For many, the ruling represents more than just an opportunity, but a foundational right.

“Everybody in this room as an adult has a right to publicity,” Galen Clavio said during a class presentation about the topic of NIL for student athletes. “You have a right to profit off your publicity… (it) is not a case of new rights, it is instead the removal of NCAA restrictions.”

The clash between the echoes of tradition and the consequences of progression continues to pave the future of sports. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling, players like Leal can step off the court into a new age of college athletics, defined by holistic opportunity and growth. NIL may have complicated the industry forever, but it is clear that the game is no longer confined to the courtᅳand for athletes like Leal, that makes every moment worth playing for.

Students and a professor near Franklin Hall voice their opinions on NIL and its impact. The interviewees were chosen arbitrarily and express support for NIL, emphasizing how the system is fair and rewards hard work.

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By Mau Brito, Charlie Collier and Harley Haisley

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

Penn State Tennis player Nolan Ranger knows from experience that Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities are often only available to football and basketball players. A new lawsuit now threatens to shift the balance even further towards athletes in the main profit-generating sports.

“Obviously, football and basketball are the bankroll of the athletic department. There’s no way to say it’s unfair, because it’s not. But is it frustrating at times? Sure,” he said. 

House v. NCAA is set to go into effect as early as next April, and has the potential to shake up the athlete experience in collegiate sports. Among other things, it allows athletes to be paid just for playing, and provides billions in back pay to former college athletes.

Galen Clavio, head of the Sports Media program at Indiana University, says that the settlement would fundamentally change how athletes get paid.

“It would allow college athletic departments to opt into revenue sharing directly with current and future college athletes, starting at about $22 million per year. Just to be clear, that’s $22 million a year that athletic departments would have the ability to pay directly to athletes,” he said.

While this is exciting news for many college athletes, not everyone will benefit equally. Athletes from different sports bring more or less profit to their school and Clavio says that this could affect the money that they make. 

“Whether we want to acknowledge it or not the market value of a men’s golf team member is generally going to be significantly less at the college level than it would be for a comparable basketball player or football player, simply because of the sheer amount of money through television contracts, ticket sales, and other items that come through basketball and football that don’t come through golf,” he said.

95% of the back pay from House v. NCAA will go to former athletes from the 3 biggest revenue generating sports: 75% to men’s football, 15% to men’s basketball and 5% to women’s basketball. That leaves just 5% of the fund to every other college sport combined. This back pay reflects what it will probably look like for current athletes when they start getting paid directly.

So how can athletes outside of football and basketball capitalize on their name, image and likeness? Ranger emphasized the importance of building personal, local connections. For athletes in smaller sports like tennis, success often comes from their community.

“The owner of a local tennis shop reached out to me through a tournament he was hosting this past summer. When I’m in town, I make appearances, do signings, or give a lesson to a customer of his choice,” he said.

Another strategy athletes can use is to tap into sport-specific brands, where they may stand out as one of the best in their field. Jeremy Gray, Communications Director of The Cuban Center, says that oftentimes, athletes in small sports don’t even realize that opportunities are waiting for them.

“Especially in what we call the non-revenue sports, it’s important to let athletes know that they’re really the top of the heap in that sport and there are ways for them to maximize that,” he said.

One more key strategy is using social media to attract potential sponsorships. Ranger, for example, uses his platform to promote brands as an ambassador. The direct connection with followers that social media provides can be a major asset for athletes in smaller sports. As Clavio points out, the value lies in the audience an athlete can bring.

“For a lot of businesses who would want to contract with an athlete from an NIL perspective, a lot of it is about what market the athlete is bringing to the table, and in most cases if you bring 25,000 people on your Instagram feed and a lot of them are the age of the people in this room, that’s value being added and you can get paid for that,” he said.

Gray added, “Teaching athletes social media best practices and how to accentuate their own brand is really, really important.”

While you may not be getting paid directly by your school, you don’t need to be a football or basketball player to become a sponsored college athlete. Benefiting from NIL outside of a revenue generating sport is hard, but you can succeed by being creative in how you market yourself and focusing on making personal connections.

“I’ve reached out to a lot of brands without a response. In the end, the ones that truly matter are the ones that you connect with on a personal level as an athlete,“ Ranger said.

 We asked Bloomington locals for their opinion on House v. NCAA, as well as what they think about how athlete pay should be split between sports. They had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the lawsuit, but were unsure how the split was going to work.

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By: Charlotte Young, Ava Burgio, Orli Gluzman

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) – In the wake of the 2021 Supreme Court ruling that allowed NCAA athletes to profit from their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), college athletics has undergone a transformation, specifically for female athletes this change brings opportunity (or some argue lack thereof). As athletes either embrace or question these new opportunities, questions arise about the impact on their attitudes, choices, and dynamic as teams. Our investigation delves into whether the NIL Supreme Court ruling is shaping the motivations and decisions of student-athletes today.

Across college campuses, opinions differ among athletes across different sports. Whether NIL is benefiting them or causing problems, is a tossup based on the athlete you talk to. Among those athletes, Abigail McDonald, a previous Division III diver from Wittenberg University reflects on the negatives of NIL, saying, “smaller universities don’t care about specific teams… leaving some athletes unable to profit while others are making lots of money.” She also spoke about the differing treatment based on gender, “women in sports are not treated the same”. For many young athletes, the promise of financial support can influence their choices, making them more selective about where to commit, leaving these smaller schools with less applicants, but it becomes an issue when athletes are left confused why some are given opportunities others aren’t. 

The advantages of NIL are not universally felt. During a recent interview, Jeremy Gray, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications at Indiana University, highlighted the disparities in support between male and female athletes. “Women often receive less visibility and fewer resources,” he said, adding that they are not featured as prominently in promotional materials. “It’s a challenge for female athletes to compete for attention and sponsorships compared to their male counterparts.” Gray emphasized that while NIL can provide opportunities, it also presents hurdles. “If a player knows they can secure more money at another school, it can skew their decision-making,” he said. This financial pressure may lead to an environment where talent is overshadowed by financial incentives, complicating the recruiting landscape.

In a differing opinion, some argue that NIL can have a positive impact on individuals, including females. Dr. Glen Clavio, a professor who specializes in sports media said, “NIL has opened the door for many female athletes”. This opinion comes from the platforms that have blown up of some now influencers who started their social media journeys while on sports teams. “All 18 year olds that are students at Indiana University have the right to publicity”, said Dr. Clavio when providing more reasoning for his stance on the equality that NIL can provide student-athletes.

To capture the community’s sentiments about NIL, we conducted “person on the street” interviews, gathering opinions of people walking down Kirkwood avenue. An Indiana University student who works for the athletic department on campus, Lily Basil, said: “They (student-athletes) can use (NIL) to put themselves and their personalities in the world.” Her indifferent opinion grows from being surrounded by sports, and seeing how it can negatively and positively affect college athletics. Athletes are able to grow their social media presence because of their talent (or lack thereof) and gain followers to make a larger platform for themselves, how they use that platform is up to their own discretion. In a supporting view of NIL, an alumni of the University, Chris Sizemore, voiced his opinion saying, “They spend a lot of time in the gym and in the classroom and put a big effort onto the field or court- and the University makes quite a bit of money on that, and I think it’s fair that they do too.”

As athletes and their families navigate this evolving environment, the impact of NIL on recruitment cannot be understated. In states like Indiana, where specific NIL regulations are lacking, potential recruits must carefully consider their options. “It’s a new factor in the decision-making process,” said Gray. “High school athletes are now looking at not just the program, but the financial opportunities that come with it.”

Whether or not people agree on the positive or negative impacts of NIL, it is important to acknowledge the changes that come and will continue to come with the new attitudes and motives that have taken over student-athletes. The recent changes brought about by the NIL ruling are reshaping the college sports landscape, influencing how young athletes view their futures. As they prepare for potential financial opportunities, the underlying values of sportsmanship and dedication may be tested. With institutions and athletes adjusting to these changes, the dialogue around NIL is just beginning, one that will undoubtedly continue to evolve in the coming years.

Voxpop Video

By Ty Horvath, Tessa Hoffman and Jillian Bamberger

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

NIL – Name, image, and likeness. These are three words that have taken college athletic viewpoints by storm. College athletes making millions from their names have sparked a new conversation about college athletics in the coming years.

Starting in 2021, NIL has given student-athletes that extra leap to embrace their full potential and make a name for themselves. The impact these players can make might change the world of college sports forever. Is NIL changing college sports in a good way, or is this changing in a way that starts the downfall of college athletics? Giving student-athletes so many opportunities to grasp their childhood dreams is possible through NIL. The name on a fan’s back, the image of who they are, and the athlete’s likeness. That’s the goal. Some goals have ups, and most goals have downs. Is NIL taking a toll on athletes? Does NIL play a massive role in choosing a college? NIL has a goal, and with goals come all sorts of conversations and views on whether this goal is achievable.

Building brand relationships through NIL is one of the more significant components of achieving the name, image, and likeness goal for college athletes. Speaking with Matt Bergman, a social media and brand partnership analyst for college athletes through NIL, “Most athletes during the season are pretty hard to stay on top of consistently, some of them take more of an interest towards NIL, but most of them are locking in on the season.” Bergman said. College students can make a name for themselves at such a young age, and money is a part of it. Some athletes may discover a greedy side in them and let money determine the path they decide to take.

NIL itself has made a significant impact on college sports and academics. Whether or not a school offers more money, credible sources make it known that the money aspect of NIL might not be as crucial to the athlete as the entire public thinks. The name, image, and likeness are possible through an athlete’s skill level and how they succeed in the sports realm. While putting NIL opportunities into question for athletes, the money can only happen with that work ethic and person that an athlete would build themselves up to be. Athletes choosing to go based on money more than the academic and athletic part in a university could quickly find themselves in the wrong university and possibly ruin their chances in a career in doing what they love.

Love of the sport is a massive part of the NIL discussion. Dylan Zouber, an offensive line intern for the University of Minnesota football team, also discussed this: “If you’re doing it (playing college sports), why not do it at the highest level that you possibly can?” Zouber said. Playing sports at the Division One level takes a certain amount of passion to achieve a position on a college sports team. Zouber believes that the sport develops the player, and NIL develops the person. Both combined to develop a career. “NIL is the least thing that they (college athletes) are worried about. They love the game and money isn’t really something that they are looking for (at the University of Minnesota).” Zouber said.

As of 2024, compared to 2021, college athletes have different viewpoints of NIL, whether they choose a college based on best fit or simply…money.

This leads to the point of NIL as a whole. Dr. Galen Clavio, a sports media professor at Indiana University, finds it easy to conclude that he knows the name of the game. “Name, image, and likeness is rapidly becoming more and more misunderstood,” Clavio said. This gives the impression that NIL is still new and hard to understand. Society has so many different viewpoints on it, and if it’s as good as everyone claims, it to be. “Its always presented as an either-or. We can either be in practice or focusing on NIL. That’s not really how it works.” Clavio said. Student-athletes that are connected to NIL learn to balance both. The public views that athletes aren’t ready to manage money along with what they contribute to a sport. Clavio backs this up by saying that everyone thinks athletes are incapable of doing these things when simply that’s not true. NIL opportunities affect college athletes, just not as much as the public might think.

Higher-level athletic programs, such as Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia, are very attractive universities to student-athletes during recruitment. With NIL introduced, the student might have a new way of thinking when choosing schools. Is money a factor? Is playing time a factor? Students may ask themselves, “Is this school for me?” These are all new questions that NIL has brought student-athletes while making their college decision.

Athletes are now ready to make big plays throughout their careers. With it being so new, new conversations change about it every day, and so does NIL. Name, image, and likeness might change the course of the recruitment process, but college athletics have adapted to many things before. Athletes are ready to take NIL head-on and see what it has to offer.

By Deshna Venkatachalam, Caroline McCarthy and Jack Hite

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024) –  A solid rubber ball gets passed around, getting caught in the head of a long stick. Eventually, it lands with a soft thud into the loose netting of Grace Winkler’s crosse. Specifically, a Cascade Maverik brand lacrosse stick, something that Winkler is obligated to use after accepting their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal. 

These deals have emerged as a transformation in the world of sports. Redefining both the financial realities and experience of these athletes. As players work to navigate the countless opportunities that arise from a Name, Image and Likeness deal, challenges may come from these agreements and the implications may extend far beyond their bank accounts. Signing puts a college athlete on a pedestal in front of society and could affect the athlete’s motivation, performance and team dynamics.

In the late 2000s, a class action antitrust lawsuit was filed by a University of California, Los Angeles athlete arguing that college athletes should be paid. In 2021, the National Collegiate Athletics Association allowed athletes to monetize their personal brands through sponsors and other commercially driven deals, resulting in over $900 million dollars distributed to NIL athletes. Three years later, student athletes are being offered deals ahead of the season. For Winkler, Cascade Maverik reached out to her the summer before her senior year, months after committing to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

“After I was signed to the company, I had a photo shoot and business trip with the other Maverik athletes, who are all pro players,” Winkler said. “I was then informed that I was their first high school athlete they had signed.”

While certain states prohibit high school athletes from profiting from NIL, Connecticut is not one of them, allowing Winkler to engage with Cascade Maverik directly. 

Her contract requires her to make monthly social media posts, wear their merchandise and participate in marketing campaigns. Jeremy Gray, associate athletic director for strategic communications/director of the Cuban Center, emphasizes the importance of understanding these obligations. 

“Understanding the terms of those contracts are really important,” Gray said. “‘Are you asking me to make five Instagram posts in order to get the money? I think I can manage that.’”

Winkler does not let these responsibilities change the way she carries herself. Being the youngest in the Cascade Maverik team dynamic makes her feel empowered. 

“I felt very honored and special that I was a part of history for the company,” Winkler said. “Especially now that they are focusing more on the women’s side of the brand.”

Her familiarity with the age gap does not begin at the athletic level as she is also the youngest daughter in a family of three children. This opportunity spoke to her on a personal level. 

“Being the youngest, I was always on the sidelines of my siblings’ games or practices until I was able to play myself,” Winkler said. “Now, it is special to me that I can be a role model for younger girls.”

Although her NIL status sets her apart from her peers, her relationship with them remains unchanged. 

“I am acknowledged by my teammates and classmates for having an NIL contract, but their behavior towards me has not changed,” Winkler said. “I am still viewed as the same teammate and friend that they have always known.”

However, Gray explains that pay discrepancies in any setting has the potential to change dynamics amongst people.

“I have heard cross sport resenting, like ‘He’s terrible. Why is he getting twice as much in his NIL deal than I am,’” Gray said. 

Comparing oneself to others can lead to a range of different emotions, one in particular being jealousy. Gray emphasizes the importance of forming relationships with the coaches, that way they can comfortably address problems when they are starting out, rather than when they have gone too far. Part of what the Cuban Center does is give athletes the opportunity to state any issues they have had within their industry. 

“We send, quarterly, a survey to all student athletes so they can report anonymously about challenges that they’re having within their own programs,” Gray said. “We have also invested in full time sports psychologists that are assigned to teams.”

An athlete’s performance can be affected by many factors such as team dynamics and mental health, but prioritizing these factors can help boost the players morale, something that the Cuban Center takes pride in. However, factors that cannot be changed would be things like having an NIL deal. Winkler explains the effect signing a contract has had on her athleticism. 

“I always have the motivation to try my hardest when playing, but I found that having the label of an NIL partnership has raised expectations for me even further,” Winkler said. 

Director of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University, Galen Clavio, states his opinion on what having the responsibilities of an NIL deal will do to an athletes performance on the field or court. 

“It is always presented as ‘I can either be at practice’ or ‘I can focus on NIL,’” Clavio said. “That is not really how it works. Professional athletes, who, in many cases, are like a year older than college athletes, are able to effectively balance these things.”

For Winkler, a non-professional athlete, this balance between athletics and her commitment to Cascade Maverik has been fairly easy. While her life has been transformed, it has been transformed for the better. Her contract with Cascade Maverik will end in the spring, but she is hopeful for her future,

“This NIL deal can lead to more opportunities for me in the future, whether that’s partnering with other brands or signing an even more serious contract with Maverik as my lacrosse career grows,” Winkler said.

On Thursday, October  17,  residents of Bloomington, Indiana were asked about their perspectives on how NIL contracts have transformed the lives of college athletes. From a non-athlete point of view, taking advantage of name, image and likeness can have both positive and negative impacts on college athletics. 

By Jaymi Curtis, Spencer Meyer and Jacob Fessler

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) – It’s late at night, May 31, 2024, and round after round of football recruits are walking onto the field of Memorial Stadium. Their objective? To get their pictures taken with a light blue Indy Car, the Indiana Hoosiers’ recruiting team has rented for the night. Each of the 13 high school athletes will make this one of many photo stops to end a long day of events carefully curated to convince these players to commit to the Indiana University football program. This is not a unique night, however. Multiple nights just like this go on every few weeks of the summer for the IU football program alone. These elaborate attempts to sign young athletes have always been around in one form or another, but with the 2021 ruling in favor of athletes being able to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, as well as subsequent rulings and new initiatives from athletics programs nationwide, spending on the recruiting process has skyrocketed. 

When asked about the changes in recruiting due to name, image, and likeness, the Assistant Director of Strategic Initiatives for Indiana Athletics, Jason Gandhi, said,

“Every year since, there’s been a ton of changes to recruiting and how it’s done.”

With these changes, recruiters have had to adjust their process for recruiting athletes.

“We all know those numbers that get thrown around,” Gandhi added, referring to the excessive amounts of money offered to athletes; money that is now legally being given to athletes.

“There are some kids that get paid two mil from NIL just for signing,” said IU Women’s Soccer player Hope Paredes.

Paredes, being an IU athlete, knows many of the school’s biggest stars personally, giving her a front-row seat to the conversation of NIL deals all across the country. 

This comes with a caveat, though, as Gandhi points out,

“There’s no way to fact-check it right now,” then saying, “It’s the wild wild west out here.”

This is a sentiment shared across the sports media world. 

“What is that player worth for our particular circumstances,” the director of the National Sports Journalism Center at IU, Dr. Galen Clavio, said during a press conference, the statement was regarding the mindset of athletics programs when settling on amounts that will be offered to athletes. He then adds,

“Allegedly, IU Men’s Basketball spent almost $4 million in NIL money bringing in players this off-season.” 

This raises yet another question: How will schools keep up with one another? Going forward, schools will have the ability to opt into $22 million in NIL money that will go towards paying athletes. As Dr. Clavio states,

“All of the big schools will opt into it because if they don’t, their competition will.”

This raises concerns for the athletic departments that are going to have to come up with this money that, as Dr. Clavio says,

“Already spoken for.” “There’s going to be a lot of people who don’t have jobs,” Clavio said.

Ethical questions have also been raised, as this will disproportionately affect smaller schools that don’t have the same budgets as schools such as IU or Alabama.

According to Gandhi, “It’s never really been all that equal,” 

but this is not a helpless case, in his opinion. Gandhi brought up Gonzaga, a team that, whilst never having won a championship title, their basketball team did advance to the national championship game in both 2017 and 2021.

“Nobody knew who Gonzaga Basketball was 25 years ago, and now they are always in the conversation.” 

There have also been concerns raised over the possibility of schools recruiting athletes based on their potential as brand ambassadors under NIL as faces of their brand. When confronted with this concern, however, Dr. Clavio declared,

“I’ve yet to see a case where it’s happened.” Dr. Clavio added, “These coaches want to win.”

That being said, these coaches are, in turn, willing to shell out lots of money to the best athletes in their respective sports. This then leads to bidding wars where the athletes can be the ultimate benefactor, and as Paredes puts it,

“I think a lot are going to choose a place who is offering the most money.”

Bloomington residents reflect on the impacts of NIL on high school athletes. They believe that NIL shapes the way that college recruiters recruit high school athletes.

The downside to these bidding wars is that some athletes, namely Matthew Sluka and Jaden Rashada, have been given verbal offers that convince them to commit to a team, which they are then allegedly not paid for. Many of these students make these deals while still in high school, meaning they often have a lack of intricate knowledge of the laws surrounding business deals, leaving them susceptible to relying on verbal agreements to come to fruition. 

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By Reagan Wilmot, Margaret Kirkpatrick and Olivia Gee

BLOOMINGTON, IN (Nov. 5, 2024)

An international student says goodbye to their family and friends, steps onto the plane and touches down in a foreign country unknown to them. They try to adjust to a new place, navigating school, friends and an intense schedule as a D1 athlete and cannot help but notice the differences between them and their teammates who have lived here forever. For decades college athletes have dedicated their lives playing a sport on the collegiate level and received little in return, but for many athletes this is changing.

NIL has become the rising question within the college athletics community. This rise has created questions from audiences and participants of its qualifications, restrictions, growth and more. With these varying questions, many are faced with the main question of “What is it?” NIL, Name, Image and Likeness, describes the means of how students participating in collegiate athletics are able to receive compensation for themselves. The main reward being financial opportunities. Overall, this new ruling allows for college athletes to receive financial compensation, brand building, engagement with audiences and a jump start on developing a career. The introduction of NIL into collegiate athletics has opened hundreds of opportunities for college students who have devoted time to competing in their sports. This new ruling has not only created benefits for athletes but the sports industry as a whole. Several jobs have been created in the athletic departments to help athletes with managing brand deals, jobs, media status and more. 

There’s no doubt that NIL has opened doors for collegiate athletes, the question is to what extent? NIL has benefited the lives of thousands of student athletes, giving them the opportunity to profit off of their names, images and likeness. Caitlin Clark, former Iowa women’s basketball player made an estimated $3 million during her time at Iowa. Arch Manning, current UT Austin football player, has a valuation of $3.1 million. The benefits of NIL have changed both college athletic programs and collegiate athletes’ lives, as Dr. Clavio, associate Dean for Undergraduate Education for The Media School explains, “athletes capitalized almost immediately off of publicity”, but what about the athletes who cannot benefit from NIL?

As colleges begin to grow their numbers, the influx of international students expands as well. This influx then allows collegiate sports to increase their diversity in athletes. However, with NIL, these international students are experiencing issues that their teammates may not be. Due to federal regulations, any individual who does own a visa cannot work to earn money while in the United States. Federal visa laws control this regulation rather than individual universities or separate organizations. This means that any United States citizen that is participating in a collegiate sport can benefit from their name, image and likeness while non-citizens cannot. This creates conflicts for international students as they continue to perform in their sport while their teammates earn money, a larger media presence and overall more opportunities.

Kristina Vicnic, member of the IU track and field team, has faced unique challenges in pursuing NIL deals due to her international status. Vicnic, who came to Indiana University from Ontario, Canada, described how she was recently approached by two local companies in Bloomington to help promote their businesses and receive gift card credit for her posts. Vicnic was excited to receive the opportunity to benefit from her image, but due to her international status she says she “had to decline those offers” as she is not able to “be paid” nor post for these companies while residing in the United States. Vicnic is on an I-20 student visa. This only allows her to work up to 20 hours and because she is a student-athlete for 20 hours, she essentially is prohibited from working at all. Kristina Vicnic and all other international athletes are dedicating their lives to play a sport at the collegiate level and on top of this, they are leaving behind their families and friends. When asked if she thinks the NIL landscape will change in the future to accommodate international athletes better, Vicnic expressed her hopes saying “I would hope it does, as an international student-athlete, I would love the opportunity to be involved with my college community just like my peers. I think it would be a great networking opportunity and open doors for us”. Vicnic and thousands of other international athletes recognize the opportunity that NIL brings for collegiate athletes. 

The introduction of NIL into collegiate level athletics has transformed college athletics entirely. NIL has and will continue to make a lasting impact on college athletic programs and athletes’ lives. International athletes devote their lives to play on a collegiate level in a country entirely new to them. They are putting in the same amount of time and effort as domestic athletes, but lack the same opportunities their teammates are receiving. As Dr. Clavio expressed, NIL is a “deep and complicated topic”. This lack of opportunity for international athletes is one of the aspects that makes NIL so complex. It’s important to acknowledge that there’s room for improvement within the concept of NIL in college athletics. Why shouldn’t international athletes be receiving the same opportunities to benefit from NIL like their teammates?

Bloomington residents give their opinion on NIL concerning international students within collegiate athletics.

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By Alexandra Cutka, Jack Tofanelli, Quentin Gilbert and Ruby Nelson

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Nov. 5, 2024) –  At just eight years old, Lucca Okeley was already dreaming about her future. She aspired to make her parents proud and transform her hard work into something valuable. After years of dedication, all of her time and commitment playing in local clubs and high school sports paid off when she received an athletic scholarship from Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. Now at eighteen years old and a starting freshman, she questions the future of her upcoming years.

On Oct. 20, 2024, the song Solo by Future blasts in Okeley’s ears to help her focus on the game ahead. Stress and excitement amplify in her body, but she remembers how thankful she is to have the opportunity to play Division I college soccer. With a brand new coach on the team, the girls have already made history in the 2024 season. Since changes were implemented by Coach Daniel Clitnovici, the Islanders remain undefeated in their conference, something that hasn’t been done before.

Located on an island, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi rests along the Gulf of Mexico surrounded by sprawling beaches and swaying palm trees, but it is only home to a student population around 7,000. “It’s so beautiful, but it’s really small. It feels like high school all over again. You see people you know everywhere,” said Okeley.

As a small university and Division I program, NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals create a struggle to compete with larger universities due to resource limitations. The 2021 Supreme Court ruling made athletes eligible for compensation to profit based on NIL, but it was not intended that they could earn money from simply being an athlete. Large programs with collectives and other monetary resources have been established as more appealing to athletes since they can get paid beyond their scholarships. Galen Clavio, who is an associate professor in the Media School at Indiana University and runs the Sports Media program, labels these actions as “pay-for-play.” 

“Every major athletic department has an NIL collective that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting in terms of going out and getting donations, and then working unofficially with athletic departments to make sure money goes where it’s supposed to go,” said Clavio.

 Okeley applauds athletes that attend larger programs but is concerned with the effects ahead. “Those people still worked hard for what they got, so it’s not a huge deal,” said Okeley. “But it definitely does make it harder for smaller schools. It’s definitely different and not equal.” Although the Islanders have prevailed success thus far, Okeley doesn’t quite know what the future holds for the competition and upcoming recruits.

Division I track and field athlete, Tyler Verschure, who is committed to run for Lehigh University has similar thoughts on the matter. Verschure is partnered with Honey Stinger, a brand who focuses on gluten free and organic nutrition, but he understands that these NIL opportunities do not affect the team directly. Verschure and his teammates do not receive any additional monetary incentives coming from another small university with a student population of just over 7,000.

“I played football with a guy in high school. He committed to Missouri knowing that he would never actually play there, but they would essentially pay him yearly to go there, instead of some of the other offers he had. Let’s say he went to Lehigh, he would probably be an all conference player here versus going to Missouri,” said Verschure. “It definitely hurts smaller schools that don’t have as much money because they are not able to acquire the talent that they would’ve before NIL.”

Looking on opposite sides of the competition, Donovan Hamilton, one of Purdue University’s wide receivers expresses the need for NCAA regulation to make competition reasonable and balanced. “I think in the future, college football shouldn’t stop NIL because people need to be paid, but maybe put a cap on how much they can pay players depending on the school,” said Hamilton. 

The NCAA attempts to place legal protections, but Clavio insists that this action would not survive the court. This leaves athletes wondering what will happen to them and their teams. In order to fight back, these athletes believe their programs should approach this battle in an alternative manner. Okeley considers that smaller universities would seem more appealing to incoming athletes if current players and coaches actively reached out to their prospects. In addition, Verschure shares that even though small programs cannot provide the same amount of money, they can still provide unique incentives that attract athletes.

“Here we have an athlete dining hall, and my friend who plays football at Toledo doesn’t have that, even though they have larger NIL opportunities. Things like that differ between the schools that might not be straight up cash from NIL. This gives them more perks of being an athlete, which is how some of these smaller schools may be able to compete. Also, a lot of these schools like Lehigh don’t have booster programs so starting those would also be helpful,” said Verschure.

Implementing some changes may result in a stronger future for the universities that have been affected by NIL deals. Okeley is not intimidated or discouraged, but driven to work even harder. The little girl deep down would want her to persevere. “Yeah I can see a divide happening, but it’s motivation for us smaller schools to become more successful,” said Okeley.

Bloomington residents answer questions regarding the competition between universities of different sizes. They provided significant insight on how they view the current situation.